Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
Just a few less than 200 runners gathered at Cahoon Park Saturday to compete in the 29th annual Pecos Valley Stampede.
Of the 197 who started out in either a 2-mile run, 10K run or half-marathon (13.1 miles), 176 finished, ranging in age from the young to the not-so-young.
Two high school athletes, one local and one from Los Alamos, took the overall titles in the 2-mile run.
Coyote Xochitl Sosa-Ortega, a 14-year-old freshman who took the women’s top prize, said she ran to get ready for track season, which kicks off next week.
“It was nice. I like the trail. It was better than running in the street,” she said.
Alexander Romero, a 15-year-old Los Alamos High School sophomore who won the men’s 2-mile, said he competed because his father was running the half-marathon.
“Actually, he made us, but I don’t mind,” the cross-country runner said, explaining that the lower elevation helped him.
“It did,” he said. “It felt really easy, actually. So I did notice the altitude change.”
Nicole Bogle, a personal trainer from Lake Arthur, won the women’s 10K in only her first attempt at such a distance. And it was only her second race ever, after a half-marathon in January.
“It was awesome,” she said of her finish. “It was a lot of fun. It was a little windy going up Second Street, but it was a good course so it was fun. Challenging.”
On the men’s side, Floyd runner Adam Terry, who said he’s been “coming down for a few years now,” took the 10K on a day he said “was beautiful. It was a nice day to get out and run.”
Clovis runner Becky Rowley, who repeated as the women’s half-marathon titlest, was complimentary of the local race.
“I think there’s a nice competitive field,” she said. “The course is nice. It’s very well-organized.
Everyone’s very friendly. It’s close to Clovis. It’s a nice race. I look forward to it.”
She won the race fairly handily, keeping pace with a male runner.
“There was someone I think closer to me than last year, but I ran with a guy who was running as fast as I wanted to, so he kind of drug me along, at least to about the 10-mile mark,” she said.
The winner of the men’s half marathon is no stranger to Roswell races.
Hobbs high school cross country and girls track coach Bob Jackson earned Saturday’s title, backing up the gold he took in December’s much chillier Reindeer run.
“It was a really nice day,” Jackson said. “The weather was nice for a longer race. It sure beat the Reindeer run, which was all ice. It was beautiful out.”
The coach said the race was part of training for a summer marathon, “So it was a good workout.”
Taking the two-mile walk titles were two Roswell residents, Trudy Seivwrigh (women’s) and Kenneth Fresquez (men’s.)
Next up in the series of Roswell Runner’s Club races is the Race for the Zoo, scheduled for May 15.
For more sports news, go to Chaves County Sports Report